Volunteers are the heartbeat of every non-for-profit organisation, and that’s no different with the Western Bulldogs Community Foundation.
Whether it’s helping set up a Sons of the West session, or mentoring young people on their leadership journeys, volunteers play a crucial role in making sure the Foundation’s array of programs can happen, and the thousands of participants reached by them each year walk away with a sense of achievement and fulfilment.
One of the Foundation’s 38 volunteers is Thanh Luu, who moved to Australia from Vietnam when she was 11 years old.
Her journey to becoming a volunteer started six years later, as a Year Eleven student at Braybrook College.
“The Western Bulldogs Community Foundation were involved with my school - that’s when my teacher talked to us about the Western Bulldogs and how they run programs,” said Thanh.
It was from this introduction from her teacher, where Thanh participated in the Leaders of the Pack program, and gained experience and exposure to various leadership skills and AFL for the first time.
This experience left her wanting more involvement with the Foundation and her Western Suburbs community.
“I liked that kind of work – I like helping people, running programs like AFL and that kind of thing.”
This led to her volunteering with CALDplay, a program that uses the power of sport to teach English and introduce Australian culture to newly arrived refugees and migrants - a cohort in which Thanh was once a part of.
“When we moved to Australia, I found that English was a bit hard for me to learn,” she said.
“It’s a new language, it’s not my mother tongue language. During that time, I was struggling.”
It’s a struggle that sees her empathise with the migrant and refugee children she now works with in CALDplay as a 21-year-old.
“I feel like there’s connection, that’s why I like it. I used to be like that when I was young.”
“I want to show them, and I want to tell them that we share a common thing - that they understand that they’re not the only one and that they shouldn’t feel lonely when they move to another country.”
Involvement with the Foundation has inspired Thanh to further her education and gain more skills in the sector.
She has recently begun studying a Diploma of Community Service at Victoria University and has also worked with Vietnamese people living in public housing, educating them on health issues such as Hepatitis C.
Her advice for other people with stories like hers is simple.
“I think for people who are from different backgrounds that come to Australia, it’s a really good idea to get involved to help the people in the community to understand more about Australia and the culture,” Thanh said.
Of course, becoming involved with the Foundation has led her to start barracking for the team of the Mighty West and embracing Aussie Rules.
"The first game was kind of challenging, because I was like ‘what is the score’ but later on when it was explained to me, I understood what was going on.”
Everyone at the Western Bulldogs is privileged to have Thanh in their corner and is excited to see the impact she will continue to have on her community.
